SO my story with this game is a lil different... i played through most of it and was pretty much near the end at 80-90ish hours, was enjoying it a lot despite the flaws (bad 'story', forgettable characters, performance issues). in fact, i was sure i was gonna give it 4 stars even with the negatives just bc i loved playing it so much.

HOWEVER!!!! i made the fatal mistake of starting honkai star rail before finishing smt v.... and so smt v was left to collect dust for weeks... and then, when i came back, i found that i wasn't enjoying the game as much as i used to? before hsr, i wanted to collect all the miiman, treasures, glory crystals etc and fuse as many demons as i could before finishing the game, and i was still excited to do the sidequests. after, though, i found myself kind of just wanting to finish smt v ASAP and finding the side stuff repetitive af with it always just ending with me fighting a tanky boss with the same demons... it became tedious rather than fun.

i feel like i most likely wouldn't have felt this way if i'd just finished smt v instead of leaving it for so long when i was at the end, but i cannot turn back time and i honestly feel like i'm just forcing myself to play through the game for the sake of finishing it rn. thus, it is shelved, but i will return to it someday OR just restart with vengeance!! i usually have this drive to finish games, especially when i'm so close to the end, but that's usually because the story makes me want to see it through and find closure. however, i couldn't care less about smt v's story tbh. like, at some point midgame, whenever a story cutscene would happen while i was playing, i'd actually feel annoyed that it was interrupting my fun lmao. because i had no faith or interest in the plot or characters at that point!!

anyway, pros: cool animations for the demons that give them some more personality, fun exploration (when it wasn't frustrating), fun gameplay for most of the game, a sense of challenge regardless of how OP i thought i was, AMAZING music

cons: lag and horrible framerate (which almost NEVER bothers me in games but it did here), unfinished story and whatever characters that i stopped caring about quickly, a couple side quests that felt like they should've been part of the main story??, areas felt barren and not different enough from each other for the most part

i believed the hype and this game did NOT disappoint!!!

the writing and characters were so fun and interesting, and the gameplay was so satisfying. i'm already looking forward to another playthrough where i'll choose different choices. also i love kim katsuragi. i didnt get to do everything i could with him but ONE DAY I SHALL!!!

only real complaints i have are minor: sometimes the text is A Lot (even if voiced) and i have to skim read to not burn out on it, and it wasn't always 100% clear to me where i could and couldnt move around in tighter areas.

other than that, VERY solid game would recommend!!